Well...I was at Allan Border field today to see the last gave of Qld Academy v India.
Some things I would like to point out:
1) India were very ordinary in the field.
They looked flat and already sick of being in Australia. There is one thing that every team no matter how good their batsman or bowlers are need to do and that is field well. India need to take all their catches and cut off as many runs as they can if they even want to think about being competitive. Feilding needs to improve 100%.
2) Indian bowling was flatttttt
I did get there late about 11, an hour after the day started. From what I saw Kumble looked okay, but Balaji didn't look like taking a wicket until Hartley flashed at one. Nobody troubled Carseldine, he never looked like getting out. Hence two centuries.
3) Although they only got 4-12? they did show some promise with the bat.
Shewag only faced about 7 balls and his defense looked good, but he needs to get forward alot more if he wants to score runs in Australia. His LBW may not have been given if he played forward, but to his credit it did keep low.
Ramesh is the one who looks good for mine, he is moving onto the front foot early and looks to pick up singles (he actually got Ganguly running quick ones).
For all that has been said about Ganguly he looked solid and was unlucky to be given out (he did stand there staring at the umpire for half a minute). He was driving really well, especially the cover drive, could have got alot more runs if he played the pull shot.
Dravid looked alot more positive today then what he appeared in Victoria (although I didn't see, just going by what was said on baggygreen.com. au for game against Vic). He mixed caution with controlled aggression. I was talking to my friend about how he should stop ducking under the continual barrage of short balls and play the pull shot - and BAM two overs later he played one of the better shots I have ever seen in my life! A beautifully played pull shot.
The Indians did stop the game 1/2 hour early as there was no result likely, but I think they should have batted out the extra 1/2 hour as Dravid was hitting some superb shots and Ramesh was looking good (he actually never looked like getting out).
Ramesh has put a strong case forward for inclusion, so it will be a tough one for the selectors. Sehwag offers an extra bowling option and Chopra is a bit like Ganga in his early career - great technique and defense, but just can't get it off the square. So for mine it would be:
Ramesh
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly (c)
Lasman
Patel (wk)
Agarkar
Harbajan
Khan
Nehra
